Pilot notes for Horsa I Glider
- Thread starter Micdrow
- Start date
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FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
Very Cool!!!!
Cool 
paulhinkley
Airman
- 15
- Nov 27, 2006
Thanks,
Paul.
Paul.
abhiginimav
Airman
well aint that a chunky mofo lol! much different from the Grob Viking i flew LOL! one of the greatest aids for the sucess of the SAS in world war to for the raid against the Telemark research base.
the lancaster kicks ass
Major General
- 19,937
- Dec 20, 2003
that's fantastic thanks!
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
And a later version of the same manual - AL6 instead of AL3 - which includes the Horsa II
From a photocopy I was given. I have coloured the covers approximately the right blue and where there are pen amendments (except on the cover) I have coloured that text blue as well
From a photocopy I was given. I have coloured the covers approximately the right blue and where there are pen amendments (except on the cover) I have coloured that text blue as well
Thumpalumpacus
Major
Paul at WW2TV recently put up this video about Op Varsity regarding gliders and crew. I found it really informative, it covers stuff about organization along with some pilot reflections about the various gliders used.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXweSTFxqtc
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXweSTFxqtc
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
What may well be the reason the US did not did not use Horsa's is covered in a discussion on another site I saw some time back that I cannot find yet.
From memory of the post the US totally ignored the British Pilots Notes and significantly overloaded them. The Horsa has a relatively narrow CG range and the US not only overloaded them weight wise but in many cases reportedly had 3 more people than seats. Those people sat unrestrained on the floor. Add to that they operated outside the CG range and many pax reportedly died in flight. The author of the main info is not a pilot and has English as his second language so his wording can be hard to decipher. Not being a pilot he keeps talking about the aircraft being 40% overloaded when it was the disposable load (payload) that was 40% above what the Brits used so the aircraft was "only" overloaded in the high teens range.
Also from memory the US troops had a heavier pack than the Brits so the aircraft would have been over MTOW even with the number of troops it was designed to transport.
One discussed overload was two jeeps - the Brits only carried one.
One other thing I found interesting was the US used fully trained glider pilots but the Brits used infantrymen with OTJ training.
As I said - I will keep looking I thought it was on militaria but apparently not so.
From memory of the post the US totally ignored the British Pilots Notes and significantly overloaded them. The Horsa has a relatively narrow CG range and the US not only overloaded them weight wise but in many cases reportedly had 3 more people than seats. Those people sat unrestrained on the floor. Add to that they operated outside the CG range and many pax reportedly died in flight. The author of the main info is not a pilot and has English as his second language so his wording can be hard to decipher. Not being a pilot he keeps talking about the aircraft being 40% overloaded when it was the disposable load (payload) that was 40% above what the Brits used so the aircraft was "only" overloaded in the high teens range.
Also from memory the US troops had a heavier pack than the Brits so the aircraft would have been over MTOW even with the number of troops it was designed to transport.
One discussed overload was two jeeps - the Brits only carried one.
One other thing I found interesting was the US used fully trained glider pilots but the Brits used infantrymen with OTJ training.
As I said - I will keep looking I thought it was on militaria but apparently not so.
Last edited:
A4K
Brigadier General
Cheers for the info here guys. Some difference in length between the original AL 1,2 and 3 document, and AL 6!
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
Found it and it was on militaria. Duh
The USAAF's Horsa Mk I cargo layout
Hi Gents, Does anybody know any soldiers' memoirs or official documents (glider manifest etc.) connected with cargo layout of the Horsa Mk I assault gliders when they served in the USAAF? What I am interested in is practice only, not theoretical data from the Horsa manual because I do have it. To...
www.usmilitariaforum.com
MiTasol
1st Lieutenant
Duplicate post
